I have recently (within 2 weeks time) had 3 friends lose parents. Very sad situations for all of them.
With that and the anniversary of 9-11 coming up I would like you all to create a Sympathy card.
Unfortunately, we will all need them at some point. It's a sad thought, but reality.
As an added challenge, I would like you all to share a memory of someone you lost and what that person did to change your life.

This is my humble offering.

The person that I've lost that influenced my life was my sweet

Grandma, Thelma. She passed away at 89 on Halloween, 9 years ago,

the same year as my dad.

She was a woman of faith, strength, courage and spunk!

Grandma Thelma had 12 kids at a time when just one was too many,

and times were tough ~ VERY tough.

I remember her telling me stories of having to make a meal

to feed everyone from a small sack of flour and an orchards filled

with apples and peaches because "that's all there was."

More than that, she was filled with an incredible faith

and gave my mom her first bible,

which in turn became mine.

We didn't get to see Grandma Thelma very often as she

lived on a farm in California and we were traveling all over the world,

often so far way, letters would take weeks to arrive.

But she always wrote!

She always remembered us and stayed connected to the far away family that we became and reminded us that family and faith were two things

If you are hopping along, you should have arrived from Kerin's creative blog.

Before I get to my 2 cards, I wanted to share this month's specials with you ~

Special #1:Buy the entire unmounted set of 49 new Funnybones (3 full plates) for only $125! (Save $120!) (Offer not available to wholesale customers.) Limit one per customer. Offer ends October 12th.

Special #2:You can also get a set of 3 FREE Funnybones stamps (our choice)and a limited edition logo stamp during this release by simply placing an order of $30 or more (before tax) in the first 24 hours of the release! (One per customer please.)

9.23.2014

I'm not a fan of Halloween but our kids get a kick out of carving the pumpkins, dressing up in costumes and visiting our neighbors ~ enjoying the age old adage of ringing the bell and shouting Trick or Treat ♥

This brand new Funnybones stamp "Spider Web" had me rolling

when I stamped it out and read it - LOL!

Oh so true!

This has happened to me more times than I'd care to admit

and I'm sure anyone watching while I was 'brushing it off'

was quite entertained :)

For my card today,

I stamped out Spidermoose as a compliment to the funnybones sentiment.

I originally colored him 3 different colors/ways,

however, in the end I decided I liked it left uncolored for a nice contrast.

Honestly, the paper alone gives me the willies!

Those big 'ol spiders popping around on the card - eeeeewww!

Good thing we're all laughing ...

especially at the fact that we aren't tangled up in some web

doing the Spider Dance :)

Don't forget to check out all the Riley and Company Design Team’s blogs for more sneak peeks everyday! You even have the chance to win new stamps!

* Join us for our release Blog Hop this Thursday 25th September 10 PM EST, starting on the Riley and Company Blog

I chose MFT's a la mode' stamp "You Keep me Anchored" - such a sweet image and sentiment,especially for the great group of women ♥Every other month, the hostess sends out a mystery image to the group.We don't know what it is 'til it lands in our mailbox and reveal it on posting day.Except this month, I only had to walk as far as my craft Cabana! :)

9.15.2014

Barb for the Divas and Debbie for the Dazzlers w/ this wonderful theme:

Recipe Cards!

I was so excited to see Barb's kit this month!

First, she is one of the most generous ladies and her kits are always

so full, you could make cards for days upon days!

This kit was just stuffed full of amazing, wonderful papers and embellishments!

Second, the theme made me smile as my I've been making my

daughter a recipe book for a couple of years now.

She's quite an accomplished chef at just 19 and one day will

enjoy cooking for a husband and family of her own ♥

So when making my recipe card, I asked her for one of her recipes

that I haven't scrapped yet and she gave me her quick mac 'n cheese.

Yum! :)

Recipe card is 6 x 6, scalloped

﻿

Here's the recipe since it's hard to read above! :)

I was ambitious and actually made a place card as well ~

Barb's kit was stuffed full of goodies!

I think I pretty much used all but a few ribbons ♥

I just adored those wooden spoon and fork embellies :)

Barb also asked us to share why we picked this recipe.

Honestly, it's not the one I would have picked. Tt was the one my daughter gave me when I asked for one

so it's the one that was showcased. It is yummylicious though!She makes a fried lasagna noodle dish w/ organic tomato sauce that is out of this world! And, her homemade minestrone soup w/ veggies from her own garden will pretty much knock your boots off! ♥I have always loved cooking and enjoy it so very much when time permits.But it's also nice that when dd feels ambitious, that she gets her cookin' on!And even though we are the busy, need to be too many places family,and dh working longer/later hours,we hold fast to one of our family commitments that no matter what, we make it home to have dinner together as family. We eat dinner together - all 6 of us! -EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT! ♥\

Thank you, Barb, for fabulous kit to play with and to Barb/Deb for this theme.Please be sure to hop on over to the rest of the DDDDivas and Dazzlers to see what they've created with the dueling them of recipe cards ~ you can find their links in my sidebar.

And ...it's also the 9th of the month, which is the day that Carriers of Faithpost our cards, too ~ this month, our hostess is Jeanette.

Her challenge this month is a friendship card with the scriptureof Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.In our home, we are very close to our children and they to each other(though I must confess 3 teenage daughters was so not as fun asI'd imagined it would be, LOL!).Most of all, they are amazing with their little brotherand I'd imagine that if one falls down, they'll help the other upas He intended for us to do with our brethren ♥The scripture tells us that if one is overpowered, two can defendthemselves but a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.I imagine my 4 together and hope that their close bond will be forever!So, here's my card!I used a digi from Cornish Heritage Farms called Teddy